Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive Muscle Relaxation is the most active form of relaxation. Progressive Muscle Relaxation, or PMR, is designed to help the body progressively relax by letting go of tension. PMR helps in dealing with muscle tension, neck and back pain, insomnia, fatigue and muscle spasms. PMR also reduces the physiological tension caused by anxiety-provoking thoughts, which helps to reduce the anxiety response. PMR can be a quick and easy form of relaxation.

To begin, lay on the floor or sit in a chair with space around you. You can start at the top of your head or the tips of your toes, but you want to be sure to tense each muscle group for 5-7 seconds, then relax for 20-30 seconds. Muscles you want to tense include your forehead, eyebrows, jaw, tongue, lips, cheeks, throat, shoulders, chest, abdomen, arms, fingers, hands, lower back, hips, buttocks, thighs, calves, shins, feet, and toes. You will want to start by tensing and relaxing one muscle group at a time, but as you become more proficient at PMR, you can do groups of muscles at one time (e.g. forehead, cheeks, tongue, etc). Regular practice can help enhance the speed and depth of your relaxation.

*Caution: be careful when tensing your neck and back to avoid muscle or spinal damage. If it hurts, please stop.

Worrying

Most people have a lot to worry about. Being a student has its own unique challenges and stressors, and there are decisions you have to make which can feel enormous. In this situation, it's hard to not worry about how your life will turn out. Worry and stress can be productive-to a point. Some stress is motivating and helps us perform better. But too much worry and stress can decrease our performance and our ability to make decisions.

Not worrying is hard to do, but there are several techniques that can help you decrease your worry. First, think of worry as a tomato plant. The more you feed and water and pay attention to your tomato plant, the more tomatoes will grow. If you leave your tomato plant alone, it will die. Worry is similar to that - the more attention you pay to your worries, thee more they will grow.

One thing you can do to decrease the time you spend on your worries is imagine building a box in your mind that will hold your worries.. Be as detailed as you can, and be sure to put a lid and a lock on the box. That box will keep your worries safe for you until you have time to think about them, but it will keep you safe from thinking about them at inopportune times.

The second technique you can use to decrease your worries is to set aside a specific amount of time to worry. Saying "I'm going to worry from 3-3:30 pm this afternoon about my test" is better than worrying about it all day. This will help you decrease the amount of time you spend on worry and will free up your mind to think about other things.